How to Save on Your Chicago Heating Bill This Winter

TL;DR If you pay your own heat in Chicago, a deep-winter Peoples Gas bill can sting. The biggest savings come from sealing drafts (a $20 window film kit is the best value), smart thermostat setbacks, and enrolling in budget billing to smooth the spikes. Income-eligible renters can also tap LIHEAP and Peoples Gas discounts.

If your heat is in your name, a Chicago January can produce a Peoples Gas bill that makes you wince. The good news is that a few cheap, renter-friendly moves cut it down meaningfully. Here is what actually works, roughly in order of payoff.

Seal the drafts (best value, lowest cost)

This is the highest return on the least money, especially in older buildings with single-pane windows.

A window insulation film kit costs about $15 to $25 and covers several windows, and it makes a real dent by stopping the cold air leaking in around old frames. Add a door snake or draft stopper under exterior doors ($10 to $20), and use removable rope caulk or weatherstripping around leaky window edges. Thermal curtains help too: open them on sunny south-facing windows during the day, closed at night to hold the heat.

None of this damages the apartment, so it is all renter-friendly and removable.

Set the thermostat smarter

Small setbacks add up over a long winter. Aim for about 68 degrees when you are home and awake, and drop to 60 to 62 at night and when you are out.

If your unit has a thermostat you can swap, a programmable or smart model automates the setbacks so you are not heating an empty apartment. Just check with your landlord before replacing a hardwired unit.

Use space heaters the right way

Space heaters are widely misunderstood. A 1,500-watt heater costs roughly 20 cents an hour to run, which adds up to around $50 a month if you run it eight hours a day, and that lands on your electric bill.

The only way it saves money is zone heating: turn the central furnace down and use the space heater to warm just the room you are in. Run it on top of normal heating and it only adds cost. Never treat it as a whole-apartment solution.

Radiator tips for heat-included and hot-water units

If you have radiators, a couple of tricks help the heat actually reach you. Put a reflective panel (foil-faced foam board) behind radiators on exterior walls to bounce heat into the room, and keep radiators clear of furniture and curtains so they are not heating your couch. If a hot-water radiator stays cold, ask the landlord about bleeding trapped air or servicing the valve.

Smooth the spikes with budget billing

Even if you cannot lower total usage, you can kill the painful winter spike. Peoples Gas offers a budget plan that averages your annual cost into roughly equal monthly payments, so you pay a steady amount year-round instead of getting hammered in January and February. ComEd offers a similar budgeted billing option. Both are free to enroll and great for anyone who hates the winter shock.

Tap assistance if you qualify

If money is tight, real help exists. LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, provides heating help to income-eligible households, with benefits that can run from modest to substantial. Peoples Gas also offers low-income discounts for LIHEAP-eligible customers and the Share the Warmth grant program.

Apply early through the Illinois program or, in Chicago, through CEDA, since funds are limited and run out as the season goes on.

Put it together

Stack the free and cheap moves first: seal the drafts, set the thermostat back, enroll in budget billing. That combination quietly trims a winter's worth of bills. And remember the simplest tip of all, available before you even sign: a building with heat included in the rent skips this problem entirely, which we cover in our utility costs guide. For more ways to enjoy the season, see our winter survival guide. Then browse current openings and book a tour.

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